--- a/source/blender/blenlib/intern/path_util.c
+++ b/source/blender/blenlib/intern/path_util.c
@@ -88,7 +88,13 @@
 #define BLENDER_USER_FORMAT			"%s/Blender/%s"
 #define BLENDER_SYSTEM_FORMAT			"%s/Blender/%s"
 #else
+
+#ifndef WITH_XDG_USER_DIRS
 #define BLENDER_USER_FORMAT			"%s/.blender/%s"
+#else
+#define BLENDER_USER_FORMAT			"%s/blender/%s"
+#endif // WITH_XDG_USER_DIRS
+
 #define BLENDER_SYSTEM_FORMAT			"%s/blender/%s"
 #endif
 
@@ -798,6 +804,13 @@
 const char *BLI_getDefaultDocumentFolder(void)
 {
 	#if !defined(WIN32)
+	
+	#ifdef WITH_XDG_USER_DIRS
+		const char *xdg_documents_dir = getenv("XDG_DOCUMENTS_DIR");
+		if (xdg_documents_dir)
+			return xdg_documents_dir;
+	#endif
+
 		return getenv("HOME");
 
 	#else /* Windows */
--- a/intern/ghost/intern/GHOST_SystemPathsX11.cpp
+++ b/intern/ghost/intern/GHOST_SystemPathsX11.cpp
@@ -41,6 +41,11 @@
 #include <stdio.h> // for fprintf only
 #include <cstdlib> // for exit
 
+#ifdef WITH_XDG_USER_DIRS
+#include <cstring> // for strncat only
+#include <pwd.h> // for get home without use getenv()
+#endif
+
 #ifdef PREFIX
 static const char *static_path= PREFIX "/share" ;
 #else
@@ -63,7 +68,25 @@
 
 const GHOST_TUns8* GHOST_SystemPathsX11::getUserDir() const
 {
+	#ifndef WITH_XDG_USER_DIRS
 	return (const GHOST_TUns8 *)getenv("HOME");
+	#else
+	const char *xdg_config_home = getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME");
+	
+	if (xdg_config_home)
+		return (const GHOST_TUns8 *)xdg_config_home;
+	else {
+		char *home = NULL;
+
+		if (getenv("HOME") != NULL)
+			home = strdup(getenv("HOME"));
+		else
+			home = getpwuid(getuid())->pw_dir;
+
+		const char *xdg_config_fallback = strncat(home,"/.config",8);
+		return (const GHOST_TUns8 *)xdg_config_fallback;
+	}
+	#endif
 }
 
 const GHOST_TUns8* GHOST_SystemPathsX11::getBinaryDir() const
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -146,6 +146,7 @@
 option(WITH_AUDASPACE    "Build with blenders audio library (only disable if you know what you're doing!)" ON)
 mark_as_advanced(WITH_AUDASPACE)
 
+option(WITH_XDG_USER_DIRS    "Build with XDG Base Directory Specification (only config and documents for now)" OFF)
 
 # (unix defaults to OpenMP On)
 if(UNIX AND NOT APPLE)
--- a/intern/ghost/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/intern/ghost/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -281,5 +281,9 @@
 
 endif()
 
+if(WITH_XDG_USER_DIRS)
+	add_definitions(-DWITH_XDG_USER_DIRS)
+endif()
+
 blender_add_lib(bf_intern_ghost "${SRC}" "${INC}" "${INC_SYS}")
 
--- a/source/blender/blenlib/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/source/blender/blenlib/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -148,4 +148,8 @@
 	add_definitions(-DPARALLEL=1)
 endif()
 
+if(WITH_XDG_USER_DIRS)
+	add_definitions(-DWITH_XDG_USER_DIRS)
+endif()
+
 blender_add_lib(bf_blenlib "${SRC}" "${INC}" "${INC_SYS}")